Features
Reunions 2010

If anyone wondered about the lengths to which a Princeton alum would go to attend the 25th reunion, consider Jeff Rosalsky ’85 and his 15-year-old daughter, Alexa. The two traveled 120 miles from their home in Dingmans Ferry, Pa., to Princeton — surely not the greatest distance, but probably the greatest calorie-burner: They made the trip by kayak (Rosalsky’s was orange), paddling side by side along the Delaware River and arriving — tired but unscathed — Thursday afternoon at the Princeton boathouse, where they were greeted by Rosalsky’s wife, Gail Shuttleworth ’86, and two sons.

Father and daughter had logged weekend practice trips throughout the spring to prepare for their five-day journey. Inside their kayaks were sleeping bags, a tent, a stove, food, and plenty of sunblock. They started paddling by 8:30 each morning and spent about eight hours each day on the water, camping or staying in bed-and-breakfasts along the way.

Rosalsky wanted to be the first person ever to arrive to Reunions by kayak (the Alumni Association couldn’t confirm that), give his daughter an adventure, and teach a lesson to his children: “I wanted to inspire in her, and my other children, the limitless potential of a good idea, some planning, and a lot of hard work,” Rosalsky told PAW.

No matter how they arrived, the approximately 22,600 alumni, family members, and friends at Reunions had plenty of opportunities to catch up, enjoy meals and parties, and chew on current issues. About 2,500 people attended panel discussions on Friday and Saturday on topics ranging from civil liberties in the Obama administration to journalism in the age of new media. Among the most popular panels were those on hot topics such as health-care reform, the changing global role of the United States, the financial crisis, and politics. At a panel sponsored by the Alumni and Friends of Princeton ROTC, alumni who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan, including Brig. Gen. Mark Milley ’80 and retired Capt. John Melkon II ’90, shared personal experiences and challenges they faced in combat; some 25 to 30 veterans were in the audience, along with several active-duty soldiers. Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer ’81 drew a standing-room-only crowd in his new role — as a commentator on national affairs — and outlined lessons from the economic crisis and steps the government should take. Afterward, Spitzer lingered to meet people and pose for photos.

From rock climbing and fun runs to arch sings and community-service projects, Reunion-goers had a host of activities to choose from. The Princeton University Players performed Clark Gesner ’60’s musical You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and a small exhibition celebrating Gesner’s work was on display at Firestone Library. Alumni artists exhibited their work at the Carl A. Fields Center, and the Princeton Shakespeare Company performed The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) in the East Pyne Courtyard. Among the activities for children was a scavenger hunt at the Art Museum, in which children searched for specific works of art. In the Class of 1995’s Top Gun-themed reunion tent, children in “Officer Training School” played parachute games and made and raced paper planes.

In McCormick Hall Friday morning, former students of engineering professor David P. Billington ’50 honored him at a symposium in recognition of his retirement after 50 years at Princeton. The next day a plaque in memory of Ernest Gordon, the beloved dean of the Chapel from 1951 to 1981 — a period that included some of the most tumultuous years in Princeton’s history — was dedicated in the University Chapel. Robert George, professor of jurisprudence and politics, was the guest speaker at the third annual Pro-Life, Pro-Family Alumni Reunion gathering Friday evening; he urged students to continue to educate others and work for the creation of a campus center for chastity and abstinence.

As always, the P-rade provided a good show with lively marching bands, pipes and drums, and a sea of colorful costumes, including the Class of 1990’s Rio-themed big feather headdresses and the Class of 1970’s Seventypede. The Class of 1960’s Asian-themed procession featured a float with musicians playing booming Japanese drums. Signs carried in the P-rade noted how times have changed since graduation, cleverly lamented the aging process, or drew attention to the things that distinguished each class from the rest: “We graduated in 10 different years,” read a 1945 sign (because of World War II, many students left for service and returned later), while a sign in the Class of 2000 noted that 2000 was “the last Princeton class to have student loans.” The Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni — with a musical Reunions theme — said: “Our Reunions are always major.” Marching in the P-rade and watching all the classes process, said Bruce Schirmer ’75, “You realize you’ve been a part of something special.” (To read an article about the successful University effort to speed up the P-rade, see page 43.)

To reduce the amount of trash left strewn along the P-rade route, a team of students weaved in and out of the P-rade carrying signs encouraging alumni to recycle. At the 25th- and fifth-reunion tents, team members stood at the tent exits at night taking Reuners’ cups.

At a luncheon in Forbes College, the Class of 1944 was welcomed as the newest member of the Old Guard. Malcolm Warnock ’25 stole the limelight, however, becoming the first person to return for an 85th reunion. President Tilghman awarded him the silver-topped Class of 1923 cane, presented to the oldest returning alumnus, for the sixth time. Warnock, who would turn 105 June 21, is believed to be Princeton’s oldest living alumnus.

Despite the myriad of activities, alumni seemed to revel most in the chance to catch up with old friends, rekindle traditions and memories, and pass them along. Before stepping out in the P-rade, former roommates Schirmer, Craig Rosen ’75, and Joe Gardeski ’75 reminisced about stealing the clapper in their freshman year. The Class of 1960 mounted a plaque on Nassau Hall, planted ivy underneath it, and buried pennies — graduation rituals that their class never carried out 50 years ago.

Hannah Clayson Smith ’95, the chairwoman of the Class of 1995’s 15th reunion, met her husband, John Smith ’95, as an undergraduate — and wanted to show their three children “where it all began,” she said. Mark Berggren ’85 also planned to share his Princeton experience with his two children, and so he booked a flight from the family’s home in Singapore to Newark, via a stop in Detroit. When the Detroit-to-Newark leg was canceled, Berggren rented a car and drove 12 hours through the night with his two children, arriving, sans luggage, in time for an alumni football game early Friday afternoon. “My kids loved the visit,” he said later, “and I’m sure they’ll never forget their dad’s mad passion for ole Nassau.”

And kayaker Rosalsky? Even if his arrival at Princeton sparks a new Princeton tradition, his departure did not: The family went home in a car.

Sheila Boston ’90 and her husband, Jerome Robinson, “keep it Rio” as they party in the P-rade.

Dave McShea ’85 in the Battle of the Alumni Bands

If anyone wondered about the lengths to which a Princeton alum would go to attend the 25th reunion, consider Jeff Rosalsky ’85 and his 15-year-old daughter, Alexa. The two traveled 120 miles from their home in Dingmans Ferry, Pa., to Princeton — surely not the greatest distance, but probably the greatest calorie-burner: They made the trip by kayak (Rosalsky’s was orange), paddling side by side along the Delaware River and arriving — tired but unscathed — Thursday afternoon at the Princeton boathouse, where they were greeted by Rosalsky’s wife, Gail Shuttleworth ’86, and two sons.

Father and daughter had logged weekend practice trips throughout the spring to prepare for their five-day journey. Inside their kayaks were sleeping bags, a tent, a stove, food, and plenty of sunblock. They started paddling by 8:30 each morning and spent about eight hours each day on the water, camping or staying in bed-and-breakfasts along the way.

Rosalsky wanted to be the first person ever to arrive to Reunions by kayak (the Alumni Association couldn’t confirm that), give his daughter an adventure, and teach a lesson to his children: “I wanted to inspire in her, and my other children, the limitless potential of a good idea, some planning, and a lot of hard work,” Rosalsky told PAW.

No matter how they arrived, the approximately 22,600 alumni, family members, and friends at Reunions had plenty of opportunities to catch up, enjoy meals and parties, and chew on current issues. About 2,500 people attended panel discussions on Friday and Saturday on topics ranging from civil liberties in the Obama administration to journalism in the age of new media. Among the most popular panels were those on hot topics such as health-care reform, the changing global role of the United States, the financial crisis, and politics. At a panel sponsored by the Alumni and Friends of Princeton ROTC, alumni who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan, including Brig. Gen. Mark Milley ’80 and retired Capt. John Melkon II ’90, shared personal experiences and challenges they faced in combat; some 25 to 30 veterans were in the audience, along with several active-duty soldiers. Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer ’81 drew a standing-room-only crowd in his new role — as a commentator on national affairs — and outlined lessons from the economic crisis and steps the government should take. Afterward, Spitzer lingered to meet people and pose for photos.

From rock climbing and fun runs to arch sings and community-service projects, Reunion-goers had a host of activities to choose from. The Princeton University Players performed Clark Gesner ’60’s musical You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and a small exhibition celebrating Gesner’s work was on display at Firestone Library. Alumni artists exhibited their work at the Carl A. Fields Center, and the Princeton Shakespeare Company performed The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) in the East Pyne Courtyard. Among the activities for children was a scavenger hunt at the Art Museum, in which children searched for specific works of art. In the Class of 1995’s Top Gun-themed reunion tent, children in “Officer Training School” played parachute games and made and raced paper planes.

In McCormick Hall Friday morning, former students of engineering professor David P. Billington ’50 honored him at a symposium in recognition of his retirement after 50 years at Princeton. The next day a plaque in memory of Ernest Gordon, the beloved dean of the Chapel from 1951 to 1981 — a period that included some of the most tumultuous years in Princeton’s history — was dedicated in the University Chapel. Robert George, professor of jurisprudence and politics, was the guest speaker at the third annual Pro-Life, Pro-Family Alumni Reunion gathering Friday evening; he urged students to continue to educate others and work for the creation of a campus center for chastity and abstinence.

As always, the P-rade provided a good show with lively marching bands, pipes and drums, and a sea of colorful costumes, including the Class of 1990’s Rio-themed big feather headdresses and the Class of 1970’s Seventypede. The Class of 1960’s Asian-themed procession featured a float with musicians playing booming Japanese drums. Signs carried in the P-rade noted how times have changed since graduation, cleverly lamented the aging process, or drew attention to the things that distinguished each class from the rest: “We graduated in 10 different years,” read a 1945 sign (because of World War II, many students left for service and returned later), while a sign in the Class of 2000 noted that 2000 was “the last Princeton class to have student loans.” The Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni — with a musical Reunions theme — said: “Our Reunions are always major.” Marching in the P-rade and watching all the classes process, said Bruce Schirmer ’75, “You realize you’ve been a part of something special.” (To read an article about the successful University effort to speed up the P-rade, see page 43.)

To reduce the amount of trash left strewn along the P-rade route, a team of students weaved in and out of the P-rade carrying signs encouraging alumni to recycle. At the 25th- and fifth-reunion tents, team members stood at the tent exits at night taking Reuners’ cups.

At a luncheon in Forbes College, the Class of 1944 was welcomed as the newest member of the Old Guard. Malcolm Warnock ’25 stole the limelight, however, becoming the first person to return for an 85th reunion. President Tilghman awarded him the silver-topped Class of 1923 cane, presented to the oldest returning alumnus, for the sixth time. Warnock, who would turn 105 June 21, is believed to be Princeton’s oldest living alumnus.

Despite the myriad of activities, alumni seemed to revel most in the chance to catch up with old friends, rekindle traditions and memories, and pass them along. Before stepping out in the P-rade, former roommates Schirmer, Craig Rosen ’75, and Joe Gardeski ’75 reminisced about stealing the clapper in their freshman year. The Class of 1960 mounted a plaque on Nassau Hall, planted ivy underneath it, and buried pennies — graduation rituals that their class never carried out 50 years ago.

Hannah Clayson Smith ’95, the chairwoman of the Class of 1995’s 15th reunion, met her husband, John Smith ’95, as an undergraduate — and wanted to show their three children “where it all began,” she said. Mark Berggren ’85 also planned to share his Princeton experience with his two children, and so he booked a flight from the family’s home in Singapore to Newark, via a stop in Detroit. When the Detroit-to-Newark leg was canceled, Berggren rented a car and drove 12 hours through the night with his two children, arriving, sans luggage, in time for an alumni football game early Friday afternoon. “My kids loved the visit,” he said later, “and I’m sure they’ll never forget their dad’s mad passion for ole Nassau.”

And kayaker Rosalsky? Even if his arrival at Princeton sparks a new Princeton tradition, his departure did not: The family went home in a car.

Shakespeare, abridged

Orchestral musicians reunited

Tigerlilies, Reunions arch sing

Malcolm Warnock ’25 carries the Class of 1923 cane – for the sixth time. His driver is Ariana Vera ’12.

A dapper Hugh Sweeny ’35 enjoys the day.

Old Guard For a Sixty-fifth Reunion

By Stanley Koehler ’36 *42

It is the Age, the Years so clearly there.

Reunions prove it, this one most of all.

And then there is the Cane. Though once a thing

To wrestle for in freshman frolicking,

It comes now like a sign, a crutch of gold —

Or silver, meant to say that we are old;

An ornament, prerogative of age,

A badge of honor, hard-won privilege,

A staff to help us on our pilgrimage,

to stay our halting steps as they may need.

Or is it more to gleam, to shine, to lead,

and let the glad processional proceed,

with laughter, song, and all deliberate speed.

Stanley Koehler ’36 *42, professor emeritus of English at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, is the author of several poetry collections. He wrote this poem in 2001, the year of his 65th reunion.

Enjoying their “Roarin’ 25th” (and their new Reunions jackets) are ’85ers, from left, Bill Bergmann, Zahid Hussain, and Doug Stahl.

Heeding concerns that reuners

A late end — last year, the P-rade lasted three hours and 45 minutes — can interfere with activities scheduled later in the evening, said Margaret Moore Miller ’80, assistant vice president for alumni affairs. So over the last two years, Miller’s office has been paying attention to those spots where the greatest gaps developed — at Bloomberg Arch, for example. This year, some new strategies paid off.

As it did last year, the 25th-reunion class took off from the front campus, so its hundreds of marchers didn’t have to squeeze through FitzRandolph Gate. Additional P-rade marshals and public-safety officers were deployed (about 100 in all, said grand marshal Charles Plohn ’66) and trained to keep the marchers moving, and sawhorses were placed along the route where the youngest classes were stationed. “That cut down on congestion and people standing in the road,” explained Milbrey S. Mara, the Alumni Association’s associate director for Reunions. Major-reunion organizers and the younger classes were encouraged to be ready with their banners when it was time to step out.

The Alumni Association even asked Alain Kornhauser *71, professor of operations and financial engineering and an expert on transportation snags, to review data from previous P-rades and to be on the lookout for trouble spots as he marched this year. But he offered little hope that the P-rade could be shortened very much, saying it’s “not far from an optimum duration” now: The Old Guard, he noted in an ­­­
e-mail after the event, gets to finish early, while younger classes watch everyone else and “socialize appropriately.”

Much of the gridlock probably stems from the locomotive cheers, as groups stop to receive the cheer and deliver one in return, according to Kornhauser. While marshals need to get those groups moving again, he said, “reducing the number of cheers is not an option.”

JOTHAM JOHNSON ’64 The director of stewardship in Princeton’s development office, Johnson was honored for a record of service that began during his student years. A sample from that long record: class secretary for the last 26 years, director of leadership gifts during Princeton’s 250th anniversary campaign, member of the Cap and Gown board, and informal one-man welcome committee to members of Princeton’s hockey team and Canadian students.

GREGG LANGE ’70 Best known to alumni for announcing the entry of each class into Poe Field in the P-rade (with original stories, jokes, and puns) and for his “Rally ’Round the Cannon” column at PAW Online, Lange conducts most of his work for Princeton out of the public eye — as a volunteer for the Alumni Schools Committee and Career Services, Reunions Committee member, chairman of the Princetoniana Committee and founder of the Class Historians program, fundraiser, WPRB trustee, and more.

JEAN TELLJOHANN ’81 An early act of service to Princeton consisted of prancing around the football field as the tiger mascot in her sophomore year. Since then, Telljohann has been an Alumni Schools Committee interviewer, a major-gifts solicitor, class secretary, class president, volunteer at Reunions and at the Princeton Association of New York City (PANYC), chairwoman of the Alumni Council’s Committee on Class Affairs, and member of PAW’s advisory board. She also sits on the board of the ReachOut 56-81 Fellowship Committee, which supports seniors who wish to work in public-interest jobs after graduation.

Amid the fun, the Class of 2000 works to clean up the canal.

At the Alumni Council’s Reunions luncheon,

JOTHAM JOHNSON ’64 The director of stewardship in Princeton’s development office, Johnson was honored for a record of service that began during his student years. A sample from that long record: class secretary for the last 26 years, director of leadership gifts during Princeton’s 250th anniversary campaign, member of the Cap and Gown board, and informal one-man welcome committee to members of Princeton’s hockey team and Canadian students.

GREGG LANGE ’70 Best known to alumni for announcing the entry of each class into Poe Field in the P-rade (with original stories, jokes, and puns) and for his “Rally ’Round the Cannon” column at PAW Online, Lange conducts most of his work for Princeton out of the public eye — as a volunteer for the Alumni Schools Committee and Career Services, Reunions Committee member, chairman of the Princetoniana Committee and founder of the Class Historians program, fundraiser, WPRB trustee, and more.

JEAN TELLJOHANN ’81 An early act of service to Princeton consisted of prancing around the football field as the tiger mascot in her sophomore year. Since then, Telljohann has been an Alumni Schools Committee interviewer, a major-gifts solicitor, class secretary, class president, volunteer at Reunions and at the Princeton Association of New York City (PANYC), chairwoman of the Alumni Council’s Committee on Class Affairs, and member of PAW’s advisory board. She also sits on the board of the ReachOut 56-81 Fellowship Committee, which supports seniors who wish to work in public-interest jobs after graduation.

Fit and hardy reuners prepare to join ’85’s service project, the Princeton University Reunions Run, which benefited Princeton Young Achievers and the World Food Programme.

Jim Farrin ’58 asks President Tilghman a question during her annual Reunions conversation.

President Tilghman gave an upbeat picture during her annual conversation with alumni at Reunions, praising the new bridge-year program and saying that she is “feeling very good about where we are financially” and that the new Center for African American Studies is “working brilliantly.” She said that after deciding to make “an enormous investment” in turning around a chemistry department that was one of Princeton’s “least-strong” departments, the construction of a new chemistry building and successful faculty recruiting have made chemistry “a top-five department.”

Tilghman urged alumni to read the report of the Eating Club Task Force, released in May, describing it as a historic document that reinforces the clubs “as integral to the fabric of this University” and the beginning of a conversation to ensure that the clubs will “act in ways that serve the best interests of our students.” Asked by Tad LaFountain ’72 about the “black-box nature of Princeton’s finances” and liquidity concerns following the collapse in the financial markets, Tilghman said that in December 2008 the University “did face a liquidity challenge” and chose to borrow $1 billion to avoid liquidating endowment assets at depressed prices. Time has shown that the decision was “extremely prudent,” she said, and “there was nothing secret about what we had done in that case.”

By W.R.O.

Panel discussions and lectures drew crowds Friday and Saturday. Here’s a smattering of comments heard at events across campus.

“ The Obama folks are so concerned to not be George Bush that it colors the way they deal with things, and there may have been in some cases an overcorrection. You see it particularly in the way Obama handles crises. ” — Richard Just ’01, executive editor at , in PAW’s panel on POLITICS

“ If you can’t call Bill O’Reilly ‘strident,’ then what is the purpose of words at all? ” — Washington Post writer Joel Achenbach ’82, commenting on whether TV personality O’REILLY had been characterized fairly, at PAW’ s politics panel

“ The lowly sitcom is actually the most effective art form in the way of bringing ­issues into our home and opening a discussion. ” — Robin Epstein ’95, situation-comedy writer and instructor at New York University, in a panel about the IMPACT OF POPULAR CULTURE on young children

“ In the past year, of those 9 million books [in the New York Public Library’s research collection], about 600,000 have been accessed by ­people in person at the library ... ­During that same 12 months, the 300,000 books searchable through Google have been accessed by 6 million people around the world. That’s powerful. ” — David ­Offensend ’75, chief operating officer of the New York Public Library, in a panel about the IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY on cultural institutions

“ I don’t see despair at Princeton. There’s a lot of earnestness. In the nation’s service, in the service of all nations. There’s a strenuous commitment to making the world a better place here. ... But I rarely come across a genuine idealist in our classrooms today. ” — Professor
Eric Gregory, speak­ing about PRINCETON ­CULTURE in a talk on “Augustine, Niebuhr, Oba­ma: Realism in an Age of Hope?”

“ [Presidents] do everything possible to retain as much power in the executive branch as possible ... Checks and balances are supposed to be the primary mechanism of securing liberties. But that system is on life support because of the fact that Congress is essentially lying down on the job. ” — Michael Vatis ’85, an ­attorney who worked in the Clinton White House, during a discussion on CIVIL ­LIBERTIES in the Obama administration

“ The Bush administration, say whatever you will about it, succeeded, largely, in preventing any repeat terrorist attacks for a long time. If they had not succeeded in that we would have seen a whole lot more pressure on civil liberties than we have seen. What’s going to be a huge threat to civil liberties, it’s not if Congress and the president wake up tomorrow with a bad idea. It’s going to be if there’s a huge attack tomorrow, and then they react. ” — National Journal and Newsweek columnist Stuart Taylor ’70, during the CIVIL LIBERTIES discussion

“ Many U.S. states are basically Greece without the Parthenon. ” — William Heyman ’70, vice chairman of Freebase and a director of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, in a panel on INVESTMENT TRENDS

“ Gold. ” — John Rogers ’80, chairman and CEO of Ariel Investments, in response to a question during the INVESTMENT panel about what the next asset bubble
will be

“ There’s no question that in the case of baseball, there was a spike in television ratings and media consumption generally during the ‘Steroids Era.’ People love to see home runs, people love to see records broken ... ” — David Sternberg ’90, CEO of Universal Sports, in a discussion about the SPORTS INDUSTRY

“ One of the things that I learned at Princeton is that constraint really does breed creativity. ” — Alexander Macgillivray ’95, general counsel at Twitter, speaking about Twitter’s 140-character limit in a discussion about SOCIAL MEDIA

“ People talk about rationing [in health-care proposals]. There’s a lot of rationing in our health-care system now, and anyone who doesn’t think so is deceiving himself. The question is whether we’re going to have an honest conversation about it. ” — Ben Sommers ’00, clinical fellow, Harvard Medical School/Brigham & Women’s Hospital, in a panel discussion about the HEALTH-CARE DEBATE

“ One of the myths that’s going around right now is that long-form journalism is dead, and that is utterly false. ... I was a student in this building [McCosh Hall], and one of the things that we were always told is that storytelling is very, very old, and no matter how many technological changes come about, that storytelling in some form will always survive. ” — Ian Shapira ’00, enterprise reporter, The Washington Post, during a panel on JOURNALISM today

“ A commander’s stress is more related to decision-making and every day trying to make the right decisions to accomplish the mission and preserve the lives of your soldiers. ... You know that the decisions you make place men and women in harm’s way and could get them killed or hurt. That is constantly on your mind. ” — Brig. Gen. Mark Milley ’80, at a panel of ALUMNI RETURNING FROM SERVICE in Iraq and Afghanistan

“ We underestimate the ideological commitment of the Taliban at our peril. ... The Taliban can’t beat us militarily, but we can lose. ” — Newsweek ­managing editor Nisid Hajari ’90, in a discussion about AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ

“ The fact that we can now ­travel anywhere in the world very rapidly allows new microbes to also travel very rapidly. ... That’s created ­ecological niches that have allowed microbes that exist in one area, where populations might be immune to them, to travel quickly and affect others who have never seen [the microbes]. Of course, that’s what happened when Europeans came to the New World for the first time. They brought things like smallpox. ” — Robert Klitzman ’80, director of a graduate-level bioethics program at Columbia University, in a ­discussion about the NEXT ­PANDEMIC

“Self-regulation is a farce, is a joke. It just doesn’t work.” — Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer ’81, speaking about the ECONOMIC CRISIS